Time to Renew I
by kobriger
Summary: Harry is kidnapped by Lucius Malfoy, but for what reason? And why is he being so friendly?
1. Time to Renew I

**A Time to Renew I**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _One._

Harry couldn't move his head. And it hurt. A lot. Harry didn't think he could open his eyes. It seemed dark at any rate, and now he thought about it, Harry didn't even know if his eyes were open or not. Harry started to check his extremities. His hands weren't tied together and seemed to move OK. His legs seemed sore though; his left leg had some pins and needles when he rolled on to his back. But his head was thumping, and the back of his neck was also feeling tender.

Harry decided to just lay still for a while. Yes, that was a good idea, he thought.

Soon Harry realised that there was no noise, other than his own breathing and the beating of his heart. It was a disturbing realisation and a deeply uncomfortable feeling.

"Keep it together Harry", he said out loud, maybe just to hear something else. Harry reached up his left hand and felt his face. All the usual features were there, with no wet feeling of blood or anything like that. Harry ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes. No glasses.

"Oh well, don't need them if there is no light here anyway", he mumbled, and slowly sat up. Sitting up turned out to be a bad idea, and Harry carefully allowed himself to lay back down where he started.

Harry started feeling around with his hands on both sides, and found nothing but the harsh carpet. He raised a little on to his elbows and pushed himself backwards a little. Reaching behind himself he felt around again. Still nothing. Harry repeated his backward shuffle twice more until his out-stretched hand touched a wall. Encouraged by this minor victory, Harry shuffled and rolled until he could sit up against the wall.

Harry rested. It seemed a great exertion his little voyage across the carpet and he felt as mentally tired and he was physically tired. After some time when Harry's breathing returned to normal and his head cleared a little, he explored the wall to his left carefully. There was some kind of seam or edge, then another material that was very smooth and colder than the rest of the wall.

For no good reason, Harry croaked out the word "help", and the smooth material hummed under his hand and started to glow very slightly blue. A voice seemed to boom in his head "Ah, so you're awake. I'll finish here and be right down." By the dim glow Harry could make out that he was touching a mirror, and there were others around a large room that he couldn't quite see the other end of. In the middle of the room was a large cylinder that Harry could not make out any details on. Harry blinked twice, and slipped off into an uneasy unconsciousness.

 _Two._

Even with his eyes closed, Harry could tell it was light now. He didn't want to open his eyes because the light would hurt, yet he desperately wanted to know where he was. He could feel that he had slumped down the wall but was still against it. Harry braced against the floor and sat back up then shielding his face with his hand, slowly opened his eyes. As his eyes adjusted he made out a fuzzy looking person-sized object, which was focusing more as the seconds passed. Without his glasses he couldn't make out the figure perfectly, but he recognised Lucius Malfoy instantly when he spoke.

"Good afternoon, Potter, so nice you could come and visit." Lucius sounded almost polite. He appeared to be sitting on a chair, something that Harry had not noticed before or perhaps it had been brought in while Harry was out of it.

"Honestly, I don't remember being invited," Harry said slowly, then coughed as his throat felt very dry. "I don't even know where I am. And I'm thirsty."

"I am forgetting my responsibilities as a host, aren't I? Please forgive my oversight and allow me to remedy this situation immediately."

Lucius Malfoy strode away from Harry to a fuzzy distance, and spoke softly to someone or something that Harry could not see, then returned to his chair and sat down again. He simply sat there unmoving, waiting Harry presumed, and said nothing. Harry could feel the silence and it made him even more uncomfortable. Questions were swirling in his mind but he could not organise his thoughts sufficiently to ask even one of them, and so Harry also just sat, slumped against the wall.

As Harry waited for the something that must happen, he looked around the room to the limits of his near-sighted range. He was in a room whose walls seemed to be entirely covered in mirrors. Harry could not tell if these were ordinary mirrors or affected by magic, but given his earlier encounter with the mirror on his left side, at least some of them must be magical. Some of these could be two-way mirrors but Harry had no way of knowing who had the matching mirrors. Harry now thought the large cylinder in the centre of the room was a single large stone or rock, but he couldn't see above the edge to see if there was anything in it, or on it.

Harry now heard footsteps and two people entered the room from the far side, both carrying trays in their hands. The first placed their tray near where Lucius was sitting and transformed it into a table which now had a large teapot on it, along with cups and saucers, several jugs and some plates. The servant - Harry thought it was a servant - moved toward Harry and held out Harry's glasses to him. Harry reached up and took them, putting them carefully in to place, and blinked everything into focus. The second servant, now looking very much like an ordinary butler, transformed his tray into a chair and placed another jug onto the table. OK, they weren't completely ordinary then. The butlers helped Harry up and into the spare seat, then withdrew quietly from the room.

Lucius now spoke again. "Tea or iced water?"

"What?" Harry asked after a few seconds, still feeling disoriented and confused.

"Would you like to drink some tea, or some iced water?" Lucius inquired patiently.

"Oh sorry, just water," Harry mumbled. "Thanks," he added.

Lucius Malfoy poured a tall glass about three-quarters full of water from a large decanter and placed it on the table in front of Harry. He poured himself a cup of tea, dropping a thin slice of lemon into the cup, and started to hum quietly to himself.

Harry was thirsty but just stared dumbly at the glass. His eyes started darting around the room, then back to Lucius Malfoy, then back to the glass. Lucius sipped his tea, replacing the cup, and asked "Please, drink, I thought you were thirsty." Harry continued to simply sit like a shop window dummy, saying nothing and unmoving.

"Please, drink your water," Lucius encouraged. "Here, I'll take the first sip, just to prove there is nothing untoward in it." He reached across the table and made a flourish of taking the glass to his lips, slurping loudly and swallowing. Taking a napkin, a very fine cloth napkin with initials embroidered in the corner, he wiped the lip of the glass and placed it back in front of Harry. Lucius returned to his tea, and stared off away from Harry to some other point in space.

Harry slowly reached out to the glass on the table. It was cold. There was already some moisture condensed on the surface so Harry was careful to pick up the glass slowly. He took a large gulp of the water, which his mouth rejected causing him to spit some back into his own lap before he could swallow it. The water was so cold his throat felt like it was burning. He took a couple of deep breaths before sucking up a few ice cubes, placing the glass back on the table and letting the ice melt in his mouth.

"Oh dear, was the water too cold, or unpleasant?" Lucius quickly asked with apparent concern. Harry could only make a muffled noise with his mouth full of ice, and shake his head.

"Well try drinking it slower next time, and beware of a brain freeze," Lucius suggested, then turning to the plates on the table said "Would you like a biscuit?"

Harry was staring at Lucius Malfoy now, staring hard and starting to shake slightly. Lucius was looking over the plate of biscuits, picking one out and nibbling at a corner. Again he was humming quietly, and looking casually away from Harry, sipping his tea. Harry continued staring, and started gritting his teeth. This made no sense at all. What was going on? Why was Lucius Malfoy drinking tea with him? Why is he eating a biscuit?

Harry spat the remainder of the ice cubes on to the floor and yelled as loud as his throat would allow "Where am I and what the hell is going on?"

 _Three._

Lucius Malfoy turned his head slowly toward Harry now and had a slight smile on his face. "Oh, so we are awake now, are we?"

"Oh come on, you bloody kidnapped me, and I'm stuck here in I don't know where, waiting for something to happen or someone to tell me what is going on!" Harry's brain felt empty now. He couldn't think of anything coherent to say or ask, and his mouth just opened and closed without any more words coming out. Harry puffed ineffectually, and then pushed back into his chair.

Lucius carefully placed his teacup back in its saucer, sat back in his chair and knotted his fingers in front of his mouth. He paused for a little bit seeming to gather his thoughts.

"Harry, can I call you Harry? Mr. Potter? In any case, I would like to welcome you to Malfoy Manor. As my guest, of course. Do you like the room? Nice isn't it? This is a basement below the manor that my father Abraxas had installed as a psychomanteum." Lucius stood up and motioned with his arms around the walls.

"I'm not really into all that catoptromancy, looking into the future with mirrors. It is such an imprecise science, and the future is so difficult to understand clearly. I had it modified for two-way mirrors rather than those scrying types, and this is a first-class room for communicating with a wide range of people. You found mine in fact just a few hours ago." Lucius smiled at Harry, which did not make Harry feel any better or less confused. "Might have been a little awkward if you started chatting with the Dark Lord, you think?" Lucius made a mock laughing face, and continued beaming at Harry in a most uncomfortable way.

Harry picked up his glass and threw it at Lucius Malfoy. Lucius moved his head slightly to the right and the glass flew past his shoulder to the other side of the room and smashed against some brickwork. Lucius sighed.

"I can see you are a little … upset … and I can understand that you probably do not understand fully why you are here yet," Lucius started lecturing.

"You can say that again," Harry grumbled through gritted teeth.

"Let me start by saying that 'kidnapping' is an emotional word and too harsh for the intentions of having you visit the Manor at this time."

"How am I a visitor?" Harry blurted out. "A visitor comes and goes as they please, and are not knocked out and taken to somewhere else they never wanted to go!"

"I do not recall physically hitting you or anything," Lucius mused as he walked toward the large stone at the centre of the room. "You are not really a prisoner though, more of a special house guest, but I don't want you wandering around at this time." Lucius' words trailed off, and he was staring into space now with no expression on his face.

Harry stood up, steadying himself on the edge of the table. "Why am I here?"

Lucius said nothing for some time but just before Harry repeated his question Lucius held up his hand.

"We share an age-old alliance, you and I," whispered Lucius, still staring into nothing. "Not our trivial mortal families but our Houses of Hogwarts. For over a millennium we shared this secret when the other Houses reneged on their responsibility. For a thousand years both Slytherin and Gryffindor did the necessary work behind the scenes to continue our way of life. We kept alive the ancient practices and rituals of riftomancy. Now is the time to renew, and our Houses must come together again."

There was a short but very intense silence between them.

Harry crept closer to where Lucius Malfoy was standing, statue-like.

"Or what?"

"Or," Lucius said turning slowly to face Harry, "the end of magic as we know it."


	2. Time to Renew II

**A Time to Renew II**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claims to, or expectation of, gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Four._

Harry snorted. Then let out the start of a laugh, but it trailed off. Lucius Malfoy had on one of those grown-up's expressions. Not the I'm-really-angry kind, and not the I'm-really-disappointed kind, or that disapproving look that the Dursley's always wore. This was one that included honesty, pleading, sadness, and a certain amount of desperation. Harry couldn't quite pick what it was that made him stop laughing, or what made him believe Lucius Malfoy absolutely at that exact moment.

"You … you are being serious," stammered Harry slowly, "aren't you?"

"Yes, Harry," Lucius stated quite deliberately. "I am very serious. And I have no reason to lie about this matter."

Harry's mind was barely keeping up with events, and statements made, over just the past few minutes. He understood all the words that were said all right, but could not make them fit into what he already knew about the world, and magic, and the Houses of Hogwarts, and how the Malfoy family had treated him and other students. Or as it would turn out, what he _thought_ he knew.

Lucius Malfoy had turned back toward the large stone cylinder in the centre of the room and was gazing, unseeing, at it.

"Mr Malfoy," Harry asked, "what is this?"

At first it appeared that Lucius hadn't heard the question, but his head turned slowly and he said "What? Pardon? Oh, I'm sorry. This is a pensieve. You know, for reviewing saved memories at one's leisure. A most useful device, and another inclusion on my part for the room." Lucius was now absent-mindedly drawing a finger through the water in the depression at the top of the stone cylinder. He seemed to almost be talking to himself. "It's like home movies. So personal. You are right in there with them. Just like being there …" Lucius trailed off.

Harry watched, now a little afraid of what might be next, as Lucius sighed deeply then drew himself to his full height, threw back his long white hair, and straightened his gown.

"A very useful device for receiving messages and orders in an uncorrupted form, exactly as intended."

Lucius Malfoy returned to his chair and sat down. "Now, where to begin, Harry?"

Harry walked slowly back to the other chair and carefully sat down. He waited for a little bit and asked "Was that a question for me, or you?"

"Perhaps a little bit of both, Harry, a bit of both."

 _Five._

"OK," Harry began, "can I start with the Houses? How are they aligned? I thought that Slytherin got kicked out after Hogwarts was founded?"

"Ah yes, that. Well the whole good guys _versus_ bad guys thing is a useful fiction. The history of Hogwarts is taught conventionally that Salazar, Godric, Helga and Rowena founded the first and best magical college late in the 10th century. All was fine and running well until there was a falling out over the enrolment of muggles, where primarily Salazar only wanted pure bloods admitted. Godric was the most vocal opponent – all that male on male bravado and testosterone – and so Salazar left after some building alterations. This is of course mostly false. It is all so pat and predictable, and it keeps up the necessary tension between Houses for competition, and conveniently produces sympathy for the wider population of muggles."

"What?" blurted Harry. "Why?"

"Well it is reasonably obvious that without some checks and balances that the magical world would simply enslave the muggle world. I mean you see how seriously the ludicrous 'Ministry of Magic'," Lucius making air-quotes and using a baby voice for the phrase, "frowns on magic used in the muggle world?"

"But … that just … if we … uhhh," Harry spat. The words were not linked, there was no coherency, and he could not make a sentence. "How does that explain an alliance between Gryffindor and Slytherin?"

"As I have already stated, the approved history is mostly false. Both Salazar and Godric understood how magic works. They both understood what is required to maintain it. And they were both complicit in ensuring that the necessary steps were taken to ensure our ways." Lucius paused here and looked toward Harry, who sat listening intently, with his mouth just a little open.

"So the whole pureblood and muggle thing is wrong? So you don't really hate muggles?" Harry asked sheepishly.

"Muggles? Me? Can't stand them. Neither could Salazar, and neither do those who respect what magic represents! No, Salazar understood that to keep the magic pure he needed to exclude the muggles and mudbloods. It really is for their own protection. You see, magic as we know it is a limited resource, and to keep it flowing properly and plentifully, purebloods need to die. The others can benefit from the practices of magic but they do not need to make the sacrifices."

Harry's jaw dropped, before he snapped his mouth shut.

"Maybe we purebloods are just being selfish. We do all the work, we have to pay the price, we should keep the benefits for ourselves. Oh there have been experiments by the great riftomancers of history using muggles and mudbloods, but they just do not regulate the energy in a predictable and manageable manner. They are quite useless. Yes, quite useless.

"No," snorted Lucius, "we are not selfish. However our ecosystem will only support a certain amount of purebloods, and I hypothesise that a take-over of the muggle world would be a bloody and ultimately pointless exercise."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" Harry finally said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Riftomancy my dear Mr Potter, riftomancy. You have it, and we need to use it!"

 _Six._

Lucius Malfoy stood up quite quickly and walked around to Harry's side of the table. He held out his left hand and said "Harry?"

While Harry was not sure what the gesture meant, he took hold of Lucius' hand with his right hand. At that instant they both apparated. Harry hated apparition; it always made him feel squeezed and squished and a little nauseous. As he looked around, all he could see were scattered stunted trees and low dark coloured grass. The land was slightly hilly, the sky was light blue with some scattered clouds but the air had a cold sting.

"Where are we?"

"Oh the middle of nowhere," replied Lucius as he searched in his gown for something. "Here, take this," he said, holding out a plain looking wand to Harry.

Harry took the wand and examined it in his hands. It looked very plain and he couldn't tell if it had a core element. "No Harry," Lucius said, almost reading Harry's mind, "just plain oak, good aged oak though, with no extras. Should work well enough for this demonstration. Can you give me a little patronus would you, please? Light show only."

Harry nodded dumbly, turned toward some open space, and tried to invoke the patronus charm. It was very weak and was more light bulb and less light show.

"Come on now dear boy, can't you do better than that?" Lucius taunted.

Harry tried again but the result was the same – disappointing.

"Now while the wand is not especially tuned to you, it is of average training wand quality and one would expect at least an average result. Don't you think?"

"This is a piece of junk. How can anyone expect to do good magic with it?" Harry complained.

Lucius teased "Indeed. Or maybe there is more to this than just the wand or the wielder?"

Harry pursed his lips and screwed up his face but said nothing. Lucius held out his left hand to Harry and asked "Again?"

Harry and Lucius apparated a second time.

As soon as Harry was aware of his surroundings, he started feeling sick. Harry was getting the waking nightmare feeling of a dementor somewhere nearby. He fell to his knees, shut his eyes and held his hands over the side of his head.

"Argh! Where are we?" Harry shouted. "I can feel dementors! Get me out of here!"

As Harry screamed and shouted, writhing on his knees, Lucius allowed himself a smile. "He certainly has the knack for this sort of thing, doesn't he?" Lucius placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and calmly said "There is nothing here, Harry."

Harry quieted down and started to control his breathing.

"That's good," Lucius cooed, "keep calm, there is nothing here, and no one but the two of us."

Harry blinked his eyes open and sheepishly looked around. He was kneeling in an open grassy field, low stone walls several hundred yards away, a copse of trees, and nothing much else. Again the sky was light blue, still with the scattered clouds, but the air felt warm and dry. What remained however was that uneasy feeling inside that spoke of painful memories and deep seated fear.

"I feel sick," Harry gurgled, still kneeling in the field.

"I know. It's the effect this has on you. Now can you manage another patronus, or do you need a little rest?"

Harry slowly got to his feet and looked on the ground for the training wand that he dropped sometime earlier. He quickly found it and held it at arm's length. The effect was immediate and much greater than his last effort.

"Woah!" Harry cried. "What happened? Did you do something to me? Why does it work properly now? Is this even the same wand?"

Lucius was clapping his hands slowly and grinning. "Very impressive. So tell me, what is different now, Mr Potter?"

"OK, so if I'm the same person, and the wand is the same one, and you haven't cursed me, then …"

"Yes Harry, yes, all yes. Go on."

"Then we are in a different place and I feel sick."

"Correct. We are in a different place. Not a very different place, but it is much closer to a rift. Here the flow and strength of energy we manipulate as magic is stronger. On that drearier hillside earlier we were far from any rifts and the energy we had available was weak and intermittent; not the best for casting a strong spell wouldn't you agree?"

"I do not have the faintest idea what you are talking about now, Mr Malfoy," Harry admitted.

"Energy, Harry. Energy is neither created nor destroyed but can be transformed. Magic as we practice it is simply the conversion of some energy via a focus, or machine or container, into useful work we wish to have done. If we used the energy of this world to perform our magical work, it would quickly have become used up and life as we know it would no longer be viable. The rifts are the links to the places where we draw the energy we require from. We drain those places on the other end of the rifts, and the riftomancers maintain the rifts and the necessary flows of energy for magic to even work. But, open a window and things can travel in both directions. The dementors as you know them are the inter-dimensional shadows of things we do not fully understand from the other side of these rifts."

Harry's head was already spinning with too much information when Lucius Malfoy apparated them again, this time back to Malfoy Manor.


	3. Time to Renew III

**A Time to Renew III**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Seven._

All the apparating and interactions with the dementor-like rift energy had drained Harry more than he had expected. He felt quite drained and also hungry. His appetite for sleep was greater than his appetite for food, however, so he slept.

Harry sat bolt upright in an unfamiliar bed. He was still in the clothes he had been in since being brought to Malfoy Manor the first time. The bed was clean, warm and comfortable. He was in a small bedroom with little furniture – just the bed he was in and a chair. There was a clean robe hanging over the back of the chair, and the window was mostly blocked out by heavy dark curtains. Harry vaguely remembered being helped to walk by the butlers from before, but had no idea how long he had been asleep for.

Harry climbed gingerly out of the bed. He found his glasses on a small bedside table that he had not noticed before. Putting them on, he stretched his arms and neck. He walked slowly around the bed, ignoring the chair and its attendant robe, and went to the bedroom door. Harry reached out and squeezed the door knob. He turned it slowly and it moved smoothly. He opened the door and found himself in a corridor staring at one of the butlers.

"Hello?" Harry croaked.

The butler motioned with its hand to Harry's right. Harry looked down the corridor in that direction and saw the top landing of a staircase. With no other choice, Harry started walking toward the stairs. At the base of the stairs was another room, with two doors, an old family portrait hanging on a wall, and a medium-size table laid with some food. Harry hurried straight to the table and looked down at the platter. It was a ploughman's lunch so Harry grabbed a thick cut slice of bread along with a chunk of cheese and started eating. There was no ceremony about the act, just hands claiming morsels from the platter and transferring them rapidly to his mouth, as fast as he could chew and swallow. Harry was not sure he particularly liked the pickles that much, or if the slices of meat were beef or venison or game. The aim was not to savour the food, but to consume, only to consume, only to satisfy the need to eat, and the empty gnawing hunger he felt.

Finally Harry sat on a chair. His breathing was heavy, his face was smeared with his meal, and the front of his shirt was wet from where he spilled some water while drinking. He didn't recall drinking, but there was a carafe of water on the table that now was not almost empty. He had not noticed the carafe either until this point. Harry sat back in the chair, closing his eyes, and allowed himself to feel a little satisfied, even if it was that over-full feeling you get when you know you have eaten too much too fast.

Harry was still in repose, eyes lightly closed, when he heard one of the doors to the room opening. It was another non-descript butler, or maybe the same one?, who appeared in the doorway when Harry looked.

"Look, there's another one of you," Harry mused, as the butler simply stood silently in the doorway. "I suppose I should follow, again." Harry stood up from the chair and moved toward the door, as the butler turned smoothly away allowing him to pass through.

 _Eight._

Harry was walked by the silent butler through several more rooms. Large rooms. Large and sweeping rooms, joined by wide corridors, decorated with paintings and artwork he could not identify, and an assortment of vases, statues and objects that looked older than the house. This was truly one of those great houses of Europe, with more history than a small country. And sometime during the head-turning voyage through the house, Harry decided he was lost.

They arrived at a sun room, and Harry was led through a glass door to a porch area where Lucius Malfoy was sitting at a table and chair looking at the view. The view was worth looking at too. Green and rolling countryside, a forested area to his left, probably to the south, and the hint of a village or some large settlement in the distance. There was a background murmur of birds, and perhaps the far-away sound of a dog. Harry breathed in some fresh air and sat down in the unoccupied chair offered.

"Good afternoon, Harry," Lucius said to the green hills.

"Afternoon?" Harry asked, a little puzzled.

"Yes, it is the afternoon. You slept quite soundly after yesterday's exertions, but it is good to see you up and about." Lucius was absent-mindedly playing with the charm on the necklace he was wearing. "Yes," Lucius said almost to himself, "good to see you up and about."

Harry took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. Whatever he said next, Harry reasoned, must make sense and answer some of the questions he had. "Mr Malfoy, you have told me a lot of stuff, some of it I just can't work out, or match with things I already know. I'm not exactly sure if I can trust you but as a kind of guest here I don't have a lot of choices."

Lucius Malfoy turned his head toward Harry and coolly stated "Well I see you finally have some questions worth asking. I'm going to answer any you have as best as I can, but you are going to have to get past the so-called 'things you already know' because many may be false."

"Yesterday I tried two patronus charms, and they felt really different. You said some things about rifts or something but it makes no sense. Why I have never noticed this before if you say I can feel it?"

"Well, it is because the riftomancers do a very good job of maintaining the flows of energy so that the density of available energy remains relatively constant. Without us, we would have chaos like mobile phone towers where you get dead spots, or the different carriers have different coverage. You could go to some foreign country and not be able to perform magic at all. It would be an idiotic system!"

"That is just so much rubbish!" Harried cried out. "How am I supposed to think that magic is regulated by some mysterious back-room old boys club that has been secret for hundreds of years? And now you say that magic is some interdimensional power cord that you control?"

Lucius Malfoy smiled broadly. He leaned in closer to Harry and quietly asked "So how exactly do you explain your failed patronus charm? I hear you are quite good at them."

"You bloody changed something! You did it, and tricked me while I was still confused. None of it makes any sense, and you're a filthy kidnapper anyway. What am I even doing here? I do not want to be here! Let me bloody go!" Harry screamed.

"That's the way," mused Lucius still smiling broadly, "fire up boy. It's a painful experience having your world views torn away, isn't it? Looks like you are going through the first two stages of grieving, which are denial then anger. Well let's hope you get through depression and bargaining reasonably quickly so we can get to acceptance soon."

"Why won't you answer my questions?" Harry blustered and started to stand up. A firm hand on his shoulder from behind – one of the butlers – forced him back to a seated position. Harry lowered his volume but angrily continued "Give me some answers," and thumped the table with his fist.

"Please Harry, calm down", Lucius soothed. "I need you calm and in control. Most importantly I need you to listen carefully, understand what I say, and accept it because it is manifestly true. You must also believe that I do not bring you here and tell you these things because I do or do not like you personally. After all our families have been through, be assured I do this for myself. I like what we call magic, and I want to keep doing it. I am pretty sure that you and the others at Hogwarts also like magic and want it to continue to be available."

Lucius' tone started to harden as he spoke. "I do these things to save our way of life. To keep the rifts open and flowing, a magic wielder in this world needs to die. This has occurred 17 times in the last 1025 years, and each time the riftomancers have maintained the _status quo_. Each and every time we have had to select a pure-blood magic wielder and sacrifice their life to power the process that keeps the rifts open, or taps a new source. We have tried very hard to keep the riftomancers off the list of candidates because we need them, obviously."

"You are not convincing me of anything now," Harry said contemptuously.

"There are factions with power that want you top of the list, Mr Potter," Lucius spat back.

 _Nine._

Harry sat still, a little stunned. This was turning from a simple kidnapping into a more complicated murder plot.

"OK," Harry began slowly, "but based on what you said before it still makes no sense. I'm not a pure blood, so why kill me for these rift thingys?"

"No, Harry, no you're not a pure blood," Lucius conceded. "However, apparently you will do for the meantime according to this little group. The situation would suit several … persons well. Personally I don't want your life forfeit to powering rift energy flows since you are a riftomancer, even if you don't know it. The problem right now is that the rifts are being disrupted much faster than historically, and we need an interim fix until we can get a proper candidate and perform the necessary rites and rituals."

"Oh crap," Harry simply said. "But why are the rifts not staying open now?"

"Short answer is because of women, and the long answer involves discussions of the space-time continuum," answered Lucius Malfoy.

Harry almost giggled, but swallowed it quickly and decided to play along for a while. "Why is the short answer 'because of women'?"

"Because it is women that are responsible of course! Don't you remember that it was the two witches founding Hogwarts who would not be involved in keeping rifts open?" Lucius explained. "To be very specific it is the distinctly uneducated combination of Professor McGonagall and the wretched Hermione Granger. You would have thought that the Head of Gryffindor House would have known a thing or two about history, but apparently not. That ridiculous sorting hat certainly knew all about her though, nearly dumping her in with the squibs in Ravenclaw."

"But what does it have to do with her and Hermione?"

"In the school year just past, Potter, you would have noticed the use of a Time Turner by the overzealous Miss Granger to attend extra classes, carelessly supplied to her I have it on good information by the aforementioned Professor. Now the long answer comes in to its own. It is established physics that time and space are a continuum not separate and independent entities and that they affect each other; thank you Albert Einstein. In the case of this particular energy machine slash container, the Time Turner, it has had an undesirable effect on the rifts, greatly speeding up their degradation by its overuse. They should have banned those things years ago. Due to their joint efforts the riftomancers will need to fix things yet again, and it is up to combined efforts of Gryffindor and Slytherin to achieve it."

Harry decided that right now was a good time to run. He sat very still, looking around frantically with his eyes, pretending to listen to Lucius' speech. Harry didn't notice any of the butlers within arm's reach and leapt for the lawn just off the patio. Harry struck the ground in a Full Body-Bind curse, bouncing several times on the lush grass before coming to a complete halt.

Lucius walked with his wand over to where Harry lay, shaking his head and making tutting noises.

"Maybe I wasn't being very clear before," Lucius started lecturing, kneeling beside Harry, "but there are powerful people who want you very dead very soon. Strange as it may seem, at this precise moment I am the one of the people who most want you to be alive. Making yourself known and wandering about outside these grounds may get you really kidnapped, and really killed. Now I don't want to overstate it, but it is in both our interests if you just stay here inside the Manor and learn a few truths that may well save your life."


	4. Tiem to Renew IV

**A Time to Renew IV**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Ten._

Recovering from the Full Body-Bind Curse was quite quick for Harry, but it was not until after the mysterious butlers had transferred his bound body to a sitting room in Malfoy Manor. Harry's shoulder was sore because that was what he landed on when bound by Lucius Malfoy, so that grass can't have been as soft as it appeared to Harry when he decided to run for it. He seemed to become unbound all at once; like a jelly coming out of a mould he relaxed all over the couch he was laying on.

"Well that was odd," Harry groaned as he tested each of his limbs to make sure they were fully operational. He slowly sat up, placed his feet on the ground, and took some deep breaths. When he felt ready, Harry pushed himself up to a standing position and stretched upwards. "Ahh, that's better." Harry spotted the only open door, and walked slowly through it.

Harry seemed to be in a bad video game. None of the rooms he entered seemed too special, and there was only a single open, or unlocked, door for him to continue through. He sat down in some rooms, looked under a few rugs, checked for dust on a table he found, but inevitably continued to wherever he was being directed to. It turned out he was travelling to the room he started in, the Psychomanteum.

The door was open a crack so Harry decided to peep inside, rather than barge right in. As he got closer, he could here Lucius Malfoy talking. He seemed very excited and was speaking quite loudly. Harry got as close to the door as he dared, and tried to see when Lucius was in the room. If he closed his left eye and pressed his head against the door frame he could see the back of Lucius Malfoy as he stood in front of a mirror. There was a face in the mirror that Harry didn't recognise but that was hardly surprising. Harry couldn't make out too many words but it did seem an angry exchange.

Then suddenly it was over. Lucius Malfoy's head lolled onto his chest, his long white hair hanging in disarray. Lucius appeared to wipe his face or eyes before throwing his head back and smoothing down his hair and gown. He looked like the scary and snooty Malfoy that Harry knew. It was when he turned on his heel and started striding toward the door that Harry thought about hiding. He bound up the three steps and lunged to the left into a room he had come through, quickly slipping behind the door. Harry carefully listened as the footfalls passed his hiding place and disappeared somewhere into the Manor.

Harry counted to 20 in his head, considered for a moment or two, then counted to 20 a second time. Harry crept from behind the door and carefully peered down the corridor outside. It was dimly lit, quiet, and totally empty. Harry stepped out, turned right, and went down the short staircase and into the Psychomanteum. He wasn't sure why he went in, or what he would find, but the room appeared just as it was when he first woke up in here.

Harry slowly and carefully walked through the room so as not to touch any mirror, just in case. He came to the mirror that Lucius Malfoy was talking into and looked at it. It was a normal mirror currently. On the floor was a shallow silvery dish. Harry picked up the dish and saw two drops of water in it. He brought the dish to his face to look at it more closely and noticed a salty smell. These were tears, not drops of water. Was that why he had wiped his face earlier? Had Lucius Malfoy been crying?

 _Eleven._

Harry took the silver dish to the pensieve in the centre of the room. He dipped the dish into the water reservoir washing the tears in, removed his glasses, took a deep breath, and submerged his face.

[[ "The time is fast approaching, Lucius, and the necessary steps must be taken before mainstream magic is affected," said the mirror. "The candidate has been selected, and you will submit to the decision of the council!"

"I shall not," Lucius snarled through gritted teeth. "I disagree with the candidate. There must be an alternative."

"We know you have the Potter boy, Lucius. The Dark Lord might see it as a hollow victory to have Potter cast into the rift, and not allowed to dispatch him himself?"

"Yes, yes. Two birds with one stone and all that," Lucius complained. "But I do not want Potter used to power the next rift – he has much greater value alive. I tell you there are alternatives."

"The council knows that use of riftomancers is a waste, but some would see Potter as a superior candidate if it could be arranged. In any case, the candidates are in your possession and you will supply the ritual with one within the week, or the council will take one."

"But I need time to prove my hypothesis and find the replacement!"

"Time is something we are becoming very short of Lucius. Be very careful. Do not satisfy one party to antagonise the other. You do not want to make an enemy of either the council, or the Dark Lord. Within the week, Lucius, or we take Draco by force!"]]

Harry pulled his head out of the water and gasped for breath. So, it wasn't himself at the top of the list, it was Draco Malfoy!

 _Twelve._

Harry was trying to piece the puzzle together while looking for a towel. It's pretty hard to explain what you are doing walking around a strange, large house with a wet face and half your hair dripping wet. Eventually Harry decided to use one of the throw covers on the back of a large padded chair to pat dry most of the water before looking for Lucius Malfoy again.

Come to think of it, Harry didn't really know how to find Lucius again. Maybe retrace his way back through the rooms? Or maybe look for one of the butlers? Or maybe try yelling?

"Hello? Anyone? I need to talk to Mr Malfoy right away!" Harry shouted to thin air. Harry waited for a few seconds and started looking around. Nothing. "This is useless."

And then there was a butler beside Harry. Harry did a double-take then sighed. "Not useless, just ridiculous."

The butler turned and moved along the corridor, and Harry followed. He was taken to another sitting room where Lucius Malfoy was sitting, reading a book. He had a stack of other books beside his chair, and others scattered on the floor further away. Lucius turned from his book and wrote in a notebook he had on a small side table. Lucius closed the book he was reading, dropping it almost carelessly on to the floor, and picked the next from his stack.

"Yes?" Lucius asked without looking up at Harry.

"I was just wondering," Harry started, "where everyone else is?"

"It's school holidays, they are on holiday. Elsewhere. I let my wife organise it all and they are all off together," Lucius explained without emotion. "They have left me to my research, and I do prefer it quiet around the Manor when I need to concentrate on a problem such as this."

"You're trying to protect Draco, aren't you? And you think that you need me for it, even though I know nothing of rifts and stuff. Why does this have to happen in the next week?" Harry asked, quietly.

Lucius Malfoy sighed, slowly closed his book, and put down his quill on the side table. Now he looked at Harry. "No point in denying any of that. Yes of course I am trying to stop the council from killing my only son for the sake of magic. And yes, I need you and your riftomancy in the course of my research. And we only have a week because the catoptromancers have divined that we will start to see some measurable degradation in the energy flux very soon. If, and when, that happens, you will see just how determined the council are to keep the rifts open."

"And you have Draco hidden away somewhere," Harry surmised, "which kind of leaves me as number 2 I guess."

Lucius Malfoy sat in his chair for a moment longer. He then stood suddenly, scattering the books in his lap. "Harry, we need to go. Now"

"Where? Why?"

"Well first to Hogwarts, then, if I'm right, to Romania!" Lucius trumpeted. He held out his hand.

Harry looked at it and knew it was for apparating, so he took the hand.

Nothing happened.

"Oh dear," Lucius said with a hint of panic. "Bring around the car," he barked over his shoulder. "Oh well, looks like we do this the muggle way."

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Weren't we going to apparate?"

"Well we would, but the local energy flux is now below the level required for that. I think the rifts are deteriorating faster than we expected – maybe a week was being generous."

"So it's started," Harry said.

"Yes it has," Lucius answered, "and so we must get to Hogwarts urgently. Oh where is that car?"


	5. Time to Renew V

**A Time to Renew V**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Thirteen._

Lucius Malfoy disliked muggle things, and muggle ways, and muggle limitations. But most of all, he hated muggle travel. It was slow, uncomfortable, completely uncivilised, and with few redeeming features. Now he was waiting for a car.

"Mr Malfoy, why are we waiting for a car?" Harry enquired sheepishly.

"Because young man, as I mentioned before the great convenience of apparating is not currently available." Lucius lectured. "Such magic may be available closer to rifts and at other special locations, but right here, and particularly right now, it is not. I am not fond of this muggle transport but I will submit to it in this case."

"Why don't we just fly on a broom?" Harry piped up. "We didn't even check to see if brooms were still … well … magical, did we?"

"It does not matter if they are or are not flyable right now. We are not using them."

"Why not?"

"Convention as a secondary reason, and primarily for concealment," Lucius stated. "Much of what we do relies not on laws and regulations but convention. We are, after all, essentially sitting in the middle of the muggle world, and we all know how the Ministry frowns on magic use in such settings."

"But you said they were just a smoke screen, covering up the things that you people do with rifts and things and murdering people," Harry argued.

"Yes I did, and that is correct. And we don't go around indiscriminately murdering people, thank you. Ever had a steak or sausage Harry? Hmmm? Probably not at Hogwarts with their terrible and limited kitchen. The best thing about not being at boarding school is none of their dire school lunches." Lucius shivered for a moment. "And most importantly, as I said, concealment. If we go about doing unauthorised magic in muggle-town here then muggles may just notice! Then we naturally draw the attention of the unknowing drones in the Ministry, which leads to piles of long and unnecessary paperwork, appearances in meetings and joint resolutions, and a heap of procedures I simply do not have the time to prosecute."

"One week before they come for Draco you mean," Harry murmured under his breath.

Lucius Malfoy drew himself up and gave Harry a filthy look. He snorted then pursed his lips. "Quite." Then he relaxed a little and smiled, "Or come for you?"

The large luxury car rolled smoothly around the gravel driveway, coming to a halt before the pair. A rear door opened, and Lucius invited Harry to enter. After a little hesitation, Lucius insisted, and Harry obliged. "To the station," Lucius ordered and the stately car quietly accelerated through the grounds, down the drive and on to the open road.

 _Fourteen._

The drive to the station was relatively short, and the pair sat in silence. Harry was not willing to say anything sarcastic or stupid to antagonize Lucius Malfoy, and didn't trust himself at the moment not to do so if he opened his mouth. He had never been to Wiltshire Station before and sat quietly until the car door reopened and he climbed out. He took his lead from Lucius who strode purposefully and quickly through the interior of the station to an exterior door marked 'Staff Only'. None of the scattered people in the station took much notice of Lucius and Harry, and no one noticed when they opened the marked door, disappeared inside, and closed it shut behind themselves.

"So where to now?" Harry asked as they walked down the poorly lit corridor.

"Why to the most famous train in the country my dear boy! The Hogwarts Express!"

"But the platform isn't exactly here is it! Hope you weren't in any sort of hurry or anything, because its going to be another trip back to London, and around the houses."

Lucius sighed heavily. "Why is it, do you think, that the young are of the opinion that they have all the necessary knowledge for life? No wait, don't answer that. Since if you told me, then I would know, and we can't have that now can we?" Lucius cocked his head to one side and smiled gently.

"Now humour me, and imagine for just one moment that both the train itself and the platform it appears on are in some way magical. Have we got that in our minds now? Can you imagine any way we might use this to our advantage? To catch it perhaps?" At this point Lucius had his hands with palms up and looked toward Harry as if waiting for an answer. He wasn't actually expecting an answer, and when Harry gave him none, he continued speaking.

"Take your time, there is no time limit, well not a serious one anyway."

Harry kept quiet, repeating to himself in his head: nothing sarcastic, nothing stupid. Say nothing sarcastic, nothing stupid.

Lucius made a flourish of removing his pocket watch, looking at it for a few seconds, before announcing "Time is up. Bzzt! I'm sorry, you didn't win the grand prize! Instead you get to walk into this blank wall and find out how lucky we are today. Ready … set … go!" With this he pushed Harry toward an otherwise unremarkable piece of blank wall. Harry closed his eyes and held his breath anticipating a sudden stop against the bricks, but instead felt a whoosh of air then a hand on his shoulder.

Harry opened his eyes and was standing on a rail platform with Lucius Malfoy standing just behind him.

"Bingo!" Lucius whispered.

From down the tunnel to Harry's left was a dull light and a rumbling sound.

"Right on time, as always."

The light grew brighter and the sound louder and the rumbling intensified.

"Now for the difficult bit. You see if we don't time the boarding correctly, we may miss the First Class car and get stuck in the cattle class. Now that may be all very good for you students but it simply will not to for me to make the trip in such an inferior manner. Ready?"

"Isn't the train stopping?" Harry gulped. "Does it stop here? Why do we have to time anything? It's almost here and I don't hear any brakes?" Harry could tell this was a train coming and it was not slowing at all. "How do we get on?"

"Oh I don't know, Harry," Lucius started, "how about magic? Three … two … one …" and he walked Harry and himself off the edge of the platform toward the oncoming train.

 _Fifteen._

Harry blinked and let out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. "Oh heck, where are we now?"

"Why we're on the train of course," Lucius chortled. "And I timed us into First Class. Excellent. I wonder when the drinks waiter will be around?"

"What? When? There are waiters on board?"

Lucius was on his feet and opening the door to the cabin, looking both ways up and down the corridor. "They are normally very good about new passengers. Oh well, just have to wait I suppose."

"Why are we going to Hogwarts?" Harry finally asked.

"Why to check out some books from the libraries. Didn't I mention that before?"

"No, no you did not mention that we're just going to the library. What is even in the Hogwarts library that you need to know?"

"Some little treatises on Riftomancy, and some locations I need to get to, and hopefully some support for a few of my own hypotheses."

"Not looking for the list? Maybe swap a few names around?" Harry quipped cheekily.

"Even if I wanted to, and even if I could, well the list just isn't there. No, I am looking for some rift locations so I can try and avoid killing people in the future." Lucius paced about the cabin, stopping at one of the arm chairs and resting on it.

"Why haven't wizards over the last thousand years worked out how to do the rifts without killing pure bloods?"

"Well there has been a lot of experimentation over time, mainly with muggles, but their chemistry just doesn't seem to work the right way. Lots of other materials have also been tried, from precious gems and metals, different types of rock, magic objects and artefacts. And then there is always religion!"

"Pardon? Religion? What does that have to do with the rifts?" Harry spluttered.

"I know you haven't studied much, so I understand I need to explain a few historical truisms for you. Harry, if you read any of the religious texts of history, they only have one of two positions on magic, generally speaking. Either they control it and accept it if they do it, or they want to kill any person who performs magic. Usually it is the poly-theistic ones with many 'gods' that accept magic is done, but have some strong opinions on who can use it and what it can do. The mono-theistic religions with one 'god' almost always think that their 'god' does all the magic, but they will call it miracles or some intrinsic 'god' power, and any one else gets stoned to death. Sadly for us, we suffered for centuries under a specific mono-theistic religion, which greatly impaired our ability to practice our craft, and to maintain the flow of magic. Research was lost, experiments needed to be repeated and rediscovered, our numbers were thinned, the rifts were weakened. We fell back on what we knew would work, and are only recently branching out and doing more rift research."

There was a soft knock on the door of the cabin. "Food and beverage service."

Lucius crossed the distance to the cabin door and slid it open a few inches. "Tea please and savouries for two." Lucius turned his head toward Harry. "Anything you wanted in particular?"

Harry shook his head, staring into his lap and fiddling with the buttons on his jacket. Lucius shut the door and sat in an arm chair. Lucius considered his impeccable nails for a few moments then returned to speaking.

"So why is it, you suppose, that there are so many creatures that you have seen that muggles don't appear to notice?"

"Magic?" offered Harry.

"Yes, that's a start. And why are they not quite the same as other creatures that muggles do notice?"

"Because they are magical?"

"Sounds like you are repeating answers, or regifting them. They have more dominant limbs than the four we most often see, don't they? Or they are impossibly large apex-predators for the prey available, aren't they?" Lucius paused. "And where do they come from?"

"Magic?" Harry said again.

"I have already told you – no reusing previous answers. It is the rifts. They are doorways to other universes whose energy we drain to power the transformations we call 'magic'. But it is not a one-way door, oh no, and all the weird and wonderful creatures we see are visitors or refugees from other drained universes left here."

"Except dementors," Harry deadpanned. "You said that dementors were not creatures but shadows from other universes."

"Yes, they are perhaps the most disturbing of the other-worldly creatures, but they appear intimately linked to the rifts too. Did you know that Riftomancy and Defence Against the Dark Arts are closely related subjects? They have a very large overlap."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Now that doesn't sound very likely at all. Very odd!"

"Odd?" asked Lucius. "Odd? You yourself are a wizard whose best subject is Defence Against the Dark Arts, who is keenly sensitive to dementors, and happens to be a Riftomancer; it doesn't seem very odd at all when you think about it."

Harry had a very bad feeling about this, mostly because it was starting to make a lot of sense. It was going to get much worse before any of this got better for him. Harry's senses were snapped back to the present by a short, sharp knocking sound.

"Excellent the tea is here. Care for a sandwich, Harry?" Lucius enquired.


	6. Time to Renew VI

**A Time to Renew VI**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Sixteen._

Harry munched quietly on a non-descript sandwich, hardly tasting it, and sipped a cup of tepid tea; Lucius had put too much milk in his cup and it was weak and lukewarm. Lucius on the other hand was fairly scoffing down the things he had on his plate, and seemed quite pleased with the situation, considering it was a train trip. At least it was a magic train.

"You should try the vol-au-vents, these really are very good. You can always tell by the pastry because when they get it just right it is an additional element of the whole dish." Lucius rambled, lecturing to no one in particular and seeming very impressed with himself.

Harry noticed that Lucius talked to himself quite often. He wondered if he was just an arrogant jerk, or just liked the sound of his own voice. Maybe even just a little bit of both. Harry picked up another finger sandwich and tried eating it. He didn't really want it and chewed for far too long before swallowing. Harry pushed his cup and plate away, and sat back in his seat. He stared out the window, but the dark scenery seemed unfamiliar and provided no comfort.

Lucius continued eating, making the occasional aside to Harry, perhaps, and drank the rest of the pot of tea. He sat back, satisfied. "Ahhh. All the great civilisations drink tea. I think that is the defining mark of any great age, tea drinking. Coffee? Pah! Did you know that brewers in this country were very unhappy with tea being introduced as a breakfast drink? Their market for ale to be drunk first thing in the morning was threatened! Insanity."

"What is wrong with you, Mr Malfoy?" Harry asked suddenly. "How can you talk such a bunch of old rubbish after dumping all that rift stuff on me? We are racing to Hogwarts to pick up some old books to try to fix a problem I never heard of, that somehow threatens the future of magic and everything, and you are spouting tea trivia! You're a bloody loony!" Harry was standing now and being louder than he realised.

There was an awkward silence. The room slowly filled with the sound of the train racing relentlessly along the tracks. Lucius had a slightly surprised look on his face, and watched as Harry retreated to his seat and sat back down. The silence stretched on. Harry's breathing returned to normal and he felt a little foolish, even embarrassed, yet Lucius just sat and studied Harry.

The door to the compartment opened and the waiter gathered up the crockery and cutlery and left without any fuss.

"Better get some sleep, Harry, big day tomorrow you know," Lucius suggested gently, walking to a door to an adjoining room. "Enjoy the pull-out sofa, I hear it is comfortable enough."

Harry slowly shook his head, then began looking for the lever to convert the sofa bed.

 _Seventeen._

It was just before dawn when Harry was awoken by a gentle shaking.

"Rise and shine young man. The staff have left out a change of clothes – very civilised I must say – so wash your face and get dressed, we have some work yet to do, and breakfast to find." Harry was unsure how Lucius was so chipper and on top of himself, when he felt so lousy and tired. Through the half-light, Harry watch Lucius wander toward the compartment door and croaked at him "The sofa was not comfortable enough." He rolled off the pull-out bed and stumbled to the bathroom.

It was an hour later, as the sun was just fully above the horizon, that the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. The remainder of the journey to Hogwarts was quick. As they entered the grounds of the school, Lucius explained his plan.

"Harry, the school currently has a skeleton staff, just looking after those poor unfortunates who are billeted here over the break. Hopefully we can avoid most of them, but we need to split up and get the required books from the Gryffindor and Slytherin libraries. You will find the book 'Locksmithing' by Roman Friect whilst I will procure the sister volume 'Key Making' by Maroft Rince. You can meet me at Classroom 31 on the second floor with the book, as quickly as possible."

Harry trotted through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts toward Gryffindor Tower. It was eerie during holidays when all the noise and life was missing from school, but Harry had a job to do and didn't have the mind for worrying. He slowed as he approached the entrance to the tower, and its portrait of the Fat Lady. It was only when he gazed at the painting that he started to wonder if there was a password required during the holidays, or if the tower was closed. No, Harry thought, if there are students staying then it must be accessible. However, Lucius had said to avoid other students, so if there was a password on the tower entrance he was out of luck.

Coming closer, the Fat Lady and one of her drinking buddies were in the painting, and they were both slumped over sleeping on the painted steps.

"Hello," Harry whispered, "anyone home?"

The Fat Lady snorted and rolled over, but was otherwise unresponsive. Harry poked the painting, which only made the lady grunt and wave an arm vaguely in Harry's direction. The painting swung open, however, revealing the staircase inside.

"Well we know what she does during holidays at least," Harry said to himself as he nimbly stepped into the tower and started climbing the stairs to the reading room on the 7th floor. He paused as he came closer to the common room level, but hearing no voices or other activity, continued past without looking in. The next potential problem came at the reading room, if any students were pretending to study inside or idly passing some hours actually reading. Again this proved no problem, as no one was about.

"Now where am I going to find this book?" Harry mused to himself. "Where is it; under the book name or the authors name?" With that Harry started checking the first few books on the nearest shelf and found that it was sorted by author. "Now to look for Roman Friect, or probably the surname, which I hope is close to the start, being an 'F'."

Harry went rapidly along the top shelf and found the last book was a children's book written by someone named Cecily Entwhistle, which meant that the F's should be on the next shelf down – or along, depending on how they were organised. On the shelf down Harry found 'Fungus Identification' by Rangar Faargaard, and decided he was on the right track. He ran his finger across the spines of a dozen books then hit Gryffindor Yearbooks.

"What? These are listed under 'G', which means I missed the Friect book," Harry murmured. He quickly read each spine of the books with 'F' authors but there was no book on locksmithing. He moved to books under 'L' in case it was listed by its subject – no luck – then to 'R' if the first name was used – again, no book. Harry was starting to panic a little, but decided the book must be in the library area somewhere and that he just had to find it. Harry reached into his pocket and took the training wand Lucius had given him days before. " _Aparecium_ ," Harry said and tapped the last book he had checked.

Nothing revealed itself. "This will take all day," Harry groaned, "and that is assuming it is hidden in this load of books." Harry screwed up his face then yelled at the bookshelf "Where is the locksmithing book?" Harry stood in silence, his head dropped to his chest, eyes closed, and feeling useless. He sighed heavily and then slumped down into one of the arm chairs. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"I have that one," a female voice said softly. Harry was shocked back to attention. "Who said that?"

"I did. I've had that one for years. Just cannot remember who gave it to me or why; doesn't seem relevant either way. But there is a password, or you can't have it."

The female voice was coming from a portrait of Professor Valeria Myriadd, a former Head of Gryffindor House. Harry hadn't taken much notice of her portrait before, and the portraits were moved about the school on a regular basis.

"Pig Snout?" asked Harry.

"Sorry, that one's for a particular passage to … oh mustn't tell. No, not that one," the portrait said.

"Look, I'm not sure I know any passwords for the book but I really need it," Harry argued.

"I'm sure you do need it, but rules are rules, and a password is required," the portrait explained patiently.

"Look, I'm here with Lucius Malfoy, and I need the book, and the other one too, for some reason only he knows, and I really, really need it" Harry begged.

"I am sorry, but no. You seem to know the name of the book, which is more than anyone else, but I will need the password," the portrait said.

"Um, I know the book name and it's by someone called Roman Friect and it has something to do with rifts I think," Harry blubbered, searching for some convincing reason to get the book from the portrait.

"Rifts you say? Roman Friect you say? Oh how amusing – a simple anagram," mused the portrait.

An anagram! thought Harry. This had to be a clue to the password. Oh, of course, how stupid I am.

"The password is: riftomancer," Harry stated triumphantly. "The names of the authors of both books are anagrams of it."

A thin book fell from the painting, and it was still. Harry fist-pumped, scooped up the book and raced down the stairs, heading to Classroom 31 for a meeting with Lucius.

 _Eighteen._

When Harry arrived the door to the exam room was open and Lucius Malfoy was inside with a thin book open on a desk, a pile of paper, a quill and inkwell.

"Oh thank goodness, Harry, please get the book over here," Lucius cried as soon as he saw Harry at the door. "We have much work to do decoding and it will be more efficient with the two of us."

"What do you mean decoding? Don't you already know what we're doing? Harry asked incredulously.

"Not exactly Harry, no. I understand the basics but the last time this was done, I wasn't even born. We are all on a learning curve, except that I am starting from a place where I already know how bad this might get. You don't. Yet. Also, I understand that there are two components: the ritual to open the rift, and the curse to hold the creature. And maybe a little magical ballet to insert the bound target creature into the rift."

"Mr Malfoy, you have got to be kidding," Harry dead-panned, shaking his head.

"I really wish I was, Harry, I really do. The knowledge contained in these books was encoded and placed here during the years of the Second World War, or soon thereafter. The confusion of war and the mass movement of people across the globe, made it easy to store information and secrete this vital documentation away safely." Lucius paused for a few seconds now. "There are rumours that the rift renewal at that time was using the nuclear bomb testing as cover."

Harry sat very close to Lucius and whispered, "Are you sure we need to be messing about with nuclear bombs amount of power?"

"Well we are talking about making connections between universes and draining their energy to power the mundane spells we utilise here. And draining that power over the course of only several decades. It is hideously inefficient by all accounts, so the wasted energy is massive. Fortunately for us, we almost never have to deal with the wasted energy, but the total amount is on the scale of nuclear bombs."

"Why do I have to deal with this crazy rubbish?" Harry groaned.

"Well you don't. Probably. I will be doing the ritual part of the renewal, opening the rift and the pin prick sized hole the drain another universe, which is where most of the nuclear-bomb-sized energy fluxes will be. Your job is to bind our target creature and insert it, and protect me while I do the long bit."

"So, no nuclear bombs?"

"Not directly yourself, no."

"I just have to bind some creature, and push it into your rift thingy?"

"As far as I understand, yes."

"And this is going to work?"

"I desperately hope so, yes."

"Guaranteed?"

Lucius cocked his head to one side and frowned. "If you want a guarantee, buy a cheap toaster and fill out the warranty form. Otherwise in life, you had better get used to thinking on your feet and adapting to whatever situation you find yourself in. Because the alternative is to be roadkill, Potter, and there is one angry Dark Lord who wants to make that happen. So pull yourself together and help me complete this renewal, or we are all going to lose."

"But you're a Death Eater, don't you want me gone too?" Harry mocked.

"Do not confuse my motives for any situation I present at any time. I am adapting to outside forces for the maximum advantage I can gain. As I have already explained, Dark Arts and Riftomancy are closely related, and I have learned a great deal due to my contacts in the Death Eaters and from the Dark Lord. I will terminate that arrangement when it suits me, but for now it fits my purpose. You will find that many about you have similar motives and arrangements, and you, or I, may be involved in their plans whether we know it or not."

Harry wanted to scream at Lucius, he wanted to tell him how stupid this all was, he wanted to get out of this insane plan. He wanted this craziness to just go away. Instead he sat with a sour face and tightly pursed lips, breathing heavily and loudly.

After a little while in which Lucius rearranged some of the papers in front of him, Lucius said "This isn't going to go away. Please help me to determine what is required so that we can complete the renewal and go back to how it was for another fifty years. We have little time, very few options, and still much work and travel to complete."

Harry looked at the table Lucius was sitting at. He looked at the two books and pile of paper that already had some scrawlings on them. He looked at Lucius' face and tried to guess how much to believe. He was out of time, out of ideas, and out of excuses. "Alright, how do we decode these books then?"


	7. Time to Renew VII

**A Time to Renew VII**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Nineteen._

Lucius looked up from the two books, shifted his seat across and invited Harry to sit beside him.

"OK this is all relatively simple. The index at the back of one book lists key words then a series of numbers," Lucius explained.

"Aren't they just a list of the pages where those things are found in the book?" Harry asked.

"In any other normal book, Harry, the answer would be yes," Lucius said smiling. "But for this pair of books they represent a simple code. The first number is a page but after that they are lines and words and we pick out words or phrases based on how many numbers follow. Then once we are finished with one book, we use the index of the other and repeat the process. There is no punctuation included, so we will end up with a stream of words that we should be able to make sense of. As I understand the coding, one set tells of the ritual to identify and crack open a new rift, and the other a curse that binds the target whose energy is used to maintain the energy flow. So?"

Harry snorted and considered the amount of work ahead. "Sure, why not? Sounds like the only plan we have at the moment." Harry sat down and turned to the index of the book he borrowed from the Gryffindor library. "Am I starting at 'A'?"

"Yes please. Read out the first number, give me a few seconds to find the page then read out the next three," Lucius asked, picking up his quill and finding a clean sheet of paper.

The next three hours were a blur of seemingly random numbers for Harry, as he and Lucius Malfoy decoded the spells and procedures required to open and maintain a rift. There was additional material of a speculative nature regarding the use of pureblood wizards and witches that Lucius was still studying while Harry was rubbing his tired eyes.

"Mmmm, how can you still be reading? I'm bushed from all this, and my eyes are falling out of my head," Harry groaned. "I'm seeing stupid numbers in front of me and I don't like maths any more."

Lucius read on, apparently oblivious to Harry's entreaties.

"I said, what are you still reading?" Harry said a little louder.

"Oh just a little something regarding the need for a magical being as a holding entity for the rift," Lucius said without looking up. "It feeds into some of my own theories, and gives me a very good idea of where to go next."

Lucius stood up suddenly, gathered up his papers, and announced "We need some transportation!"

Harry looked unimpressed and said "What we need is dinner. I'm off to the Great Hall and see if there is any grub around." With that Harry walked out of the exam room and headed to the Great Hall. Lucius followed Harry after retrieving both books.

 _Twenty._

By no small piece of luck, there was food available in the Great Hall, and Harry and Lucius seated themselves in the furthest corner so as not to draw any unwanted attention. The hall itself was sparsely populated with the billeted students, most of them seated on a single long table under loose supervision.

"So Harry," Lucius started, "you are going to have to use the curse to bind our target while I perform the ritual. Now the ritual is a slow process that may take several minutes to complete, so you may be waiting around for a bit. That really means that we need to stake out the target carefully beforehand, so that we can get the timing correct to open then charge the rift. Is that reasonably clear?"

"I 'spose so," Harry replied between mouthfuls.

"Your curse is _Bindan Patronum_ , Harry," Lucius explained, "and the hand movement is like a sideways figure eight, starting down and right circling back up then down to the left, back to the starting point then an overhead chopping motion finishing with your wand pointed at the target. Got that?"

Harry's mouth was gaping. "A patronum curse? There isn't one, is there?"

"Not in the general syllabus that is taught in all the normal schools of wizardry and witchcraft, no. But there exists this curse in the realm of Riftomancy; not exactly an optional subject offered at Hogwarts. Harry, you have to get past your illusion that what you have been shown is all that there is. There are other branches of magic not taught; other themes lost to the ages. All you ever see is the safest or most necessary components that are authorised by the Ministry of Magic."

"So you're saying there is the animal form patronus charm thingy, the Defence Against the Dark Arts shield, and now a curse?"

"Yes Harry, I am," Lucius answered matter-of-factly. "And you are so very good with the patronus branch of spells, you are the perfect one to use it."

Harry pushed away his plate, and sat in silence for a little while. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Lucius leaned in closer to Harry and whispered, "I think it's time we left. All we need is some form of transport, and hopefully not muggle-based. We can get there by car, but I don't have one handy right now."

Harry's ears perked up and he slowly said, "I know where we can get a magic car."

"Why that sounds like the first useful thing you've said all week," Lucius gushed, now feeling much better that magic transport would be available.

"Well follow me then," Harry whispered back, grinning slightly with the thought that Lucius Malfoy would not greatly enjoy the car he had in mind.

The two stood up and carefully snuck out of the Great Hall, walking briskly then to the front gates and out onto the common.

"So exactly where are the garages here at Hogwarts?" Lucius asked as they started across the grass. "I don't recall any significant car parks in the immediate area either."

"Oh the car isn't exactly parked in any … um … normal manner Mr. Malfoy," Harry explained, "and if you could keep to the right hand side of the path as much as possible, we can avoid annoying the Whomping Willow."

"Are we going into the trees, Harry?"

"Just a little."

"I am becoming deeply suspicious about this alleged car of yours."

"Don't worry it will do the job," Harry muttered as he slowed and started looking carefully between the tree trunks closest to the path.

"We are going into the trees aren't we! You're looking into the trees Harry! Where is this blasted vehicle?"

Suddenly Harry caught a flash of light blue in amongst the greenery and pointed triumphantly, "There we are, just where we left it." Harry began pushing into the grass and bushes toward Arthur Weasley's light blue Ford Anglia.

Lucius Malfoy was standing at the forest edge shaking his head and sighing loudly. "Are there any other indignities that can be visited upon me today?" he asked the cosmos. "I'm not a bad person you know, just trying to get along and keep the lifestyle alive for those of us wanting to live it. But a light blue Ford Anglia? So nineteen sixties."

"Come on Mr. Malfoy, the Weasleys won't care if we borrow the car!" Harry called from the undergrowth.

"A Weasley car? Well I had to ask," Lucius said in a resigned tone. "Oh well, let's get on with it."

Harry climbed into the driver's seat, knowing the car could drive itself anyway. "Where to, sir?"

"We will be heading east today, picking up the A9 and following it north to north-east until we reach Latheron. There we will turn right onto the A99 and take it to John o'Groats."

"Isn't that the end of the line?" Harry inquired, a little worried.

"Not for us; just a hopping off point for the real trip."

"The 'real trip'?" Harry asked, now genuinely concerned. "Where do we go on the real trip?"

"Why don't we just leave that as a little surprise? No point knowing everything is there? It won't make any difference when we get there anyway. No, we can wait for the last leg." Lucius sat back in his seat and looked at the cramped interior. "So what does this 'magical car' do anyway? Does it recite old Thomas the Tank Engine scripts or something?"

Harry made a silly face and pressed hard on the pedal. The car lurched into activity, lifting vertically over the low shrubs, then swooping down to glide inches off the ground, across the common and onto the road to Hogsmeade.

 _Twenty One._

Lucius was disappointed that he was travelling in a Weasley car, but slightly cheered by the fact that it was at least an enchanted vehicle.

"I am very pleased to see that this contraption is still channelling magic sufficient for its flying. It would be tedious to do this in a muggle car," Lucius said half to himself and half to Harry. "Is that a sign for the A9 ahead?"

"There is a lever or something for invisibility in here too but I don't know if it's working," said Harry looking about the dashboard and feeling under the steering column. "I'm sure it was around here somewhere."

"Please don't use any more magic than is necessary, as we don't know if or when any enchantments on this vehicle will become too weak to have any effect. Also, it helps the other motorists if they can see us coming on the road. A lot of the road further north, and particularly on the A99, is narrow and winding, so good control and visibility are probably advantages for us. But where we're going the magic should be operating normally. Hopefully."

"Yes," exclaimed Harry, "the A9 entrance is up ahead and we are on our way."

"Splendid," added Lucius.

Harry's enthusiasm waned when he saw the roadsign informing him that John o'Groats was 190 miles away. "This is gonna take hours to get there," he moaned.

"Maybe four hours with good traffic and a slightly magical car I would suggest. Still be there before tea time, and at this time of year still plenty of daylight."

Despite making regular stops to stretch and go to the toilet, it took a little less than four hours to reach the town of John o'Groats in the Weasley car, but when they arrived Lucius told Harry, "We need to make a right turn and go to the Duncansby Head lighthouse to get our next ride."

"Bu the sign there says the Orkney Ferry departs the pier that's straight ahead," Harry observed.

"You and your muggle transport systems Harry. We are going to the lighthouse because it hosts a different ferryman – very different."

The car turned onto the tourist road that led east to the lighthouse with its carpark and coach parking. There was no one visiting today.

"Looks like all the tourists took the ferry today," Harry said as the car parked in the lot.

"Things have a way of working out for the best, don't they Harry? Get the research will you," Lucius said as he got out of the car, reaching into his robes and taking his wand in hand.

He walked toward the lighthouse but took a barely noticeable track to the right that led him down the rocky edge and out of Harry's sight. Harry picked up the picked up the piles of decoding they had done earlier and stuffed them into a paper bag he found under the seat. He got out of the car and was following at a distance when he saw some flashes of light from near where Lucius had dropped out of sight, and started trotting a little quicker toward the hidden path.

As he neared the edge, Lucius was climbing back up pushing a goblin in front of him.

"Introductions. Harry this is Ironleg, the goblin …"

"Captain Ironleg," the goblin interjected.

"Captain Ironleg," Lucius repeated, "the goblin ferryman who will take us on the final stage of our trip."

"But where?" Harry asked.

"The only place on my itinerary; Azkaban Prison," Captain Ironleg croaked, and started laughing.

"Azkaban?" Harry hissed, his mouth suddenly drying up.

"Here, take this," Lucius said holding out his hand, "it's the goblin's wand. You might need it."


	8. Time to Renew XIII

**A Time to Renew VIII**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Twenty Two._

Harry's head was filled with fear. We are going to take a ferry to Azkaban, he thought to himself, over and over again. Why are we going to Azkaban? What do we hope to find at Azkaban? I do not want to go to Azkaban?

"Well don't just stand there like a paralysed parrot Harry," Lucius chided, "let's get on the ferry shall we? The good captain is waiting."

But Harry just stood transfixed to the spot, still clutching the paper bag containing the decoded text and the wand Lucius had given him. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth was dry and his throat felt constricted and no sound came out, just a slight puffing as if he were breathing out sharply but could not inhale.

Lucius cocked his head to one side and looked at Harry for a few seconds, puzzled.

Captain Ironleg broke the silence, "Your mate there 'e don't look too good. Ya think it's the boatin'?"

Lucius screwed up his face and stared down at Ironleg. "Hush up you putrescent creature. Make the boat ready for we leave immediately!"

"Aye," grumbled the goblin as he turned away and trotted down the path to the sea's edge.

Lucius walked over to Harry, placed an arm gently around his shoulder and walked him slowly along the path, toward the ferry boat, and toward Azkaban. Harry continued to make no coherent sounds, just deep breathing and occasional gagging, however with Lucius' patient coaxing and encouragement the short walk along the path was completed in due course.

"Are ya plannin' to be comin' aboard soon, land lubbers?" Ironleg yelled from his ferry, having arrived much earlier than Lucius and Harry, and having quickly prepared the boat for casting off. He was grumpy being forced to make the journey without proper authority. He was angry with Lucius for the magic beating he inflicted. He was upset that his wand had been taken, although being a goblin he didn't need a wand to do some of his magic. And he was irritated at being kept waiting. Add this to the fact that he was naturally bad tempered, and he was feeling positively livid with the two humans and the whole situation.

When Harry saw the small ferry he froze up again and his legs stopped dead straight and dug into the ground. All he could say was "I thought we were going to Romania," as Lucius bundled him onto the ferry and below deck.

 _Twenty Three._

Harry felt the boat start moving and began shaking.

"Why are we going to Azkaban?" Harry said almost to himself, his head lolling on his chest. "We were going to Romania. Why were we going to Romania?" Harry sat bolt upright very suddenly, his eyes wide, and his face slick with sweat. He looked around quickly and found the figure of Lucius Malfoy slouching back in a chair with his eyes closed.

"Oi! Wake up!" Harry called. "Why were we going to Romania? Mr. Malfoy? Why aren't we going to Romania now?"

"Dragons," Lucius answered without moving or opening his eyes.

Harry was dumbfounded. "We were going to Romania to go sight-seeing for dragons?"

"No of course not. We were going to the Dragon Reserve there to catch one."

"You can't just catch a bloody dragon!" Harry cried out. "Are you mad? We'd get killed in a minute! And what would we do with a captured dragon? Try to smuggle it back in a suitcase?"

Lucius laughed to himself softly. "In a suitcase." Lucius chuckled again. "That is quite humorous given your current state." With that, Lucius opened his eyes and sat up slowly. "So do you recall any of our conversations in Malfoy Manor or on the Hogwarts Express? All the magical creatures that we see that muggles are barely able to understand, let alone perceive, that have a completely different morphology and chemistry than we do, come from other universes via the rifts. The same rifts we open and manipulate to maintain the practice of magic as we know it today. So up until recently we riftomancers have been using purebloods of this Earth as the fuel to open and channel energy through the rifts, as all the other earthly things we have tried have failed to be as efficient or as predictable in their effects. This is a very important point to make, given the magnitude of the forces we are dealing with. Nuclear bombs and all that?"

Lucius paused and changed position on his chair, before continuing.

"Since we know that a human with magic awareness and manipulative skills can power the rift, my current hypothesis is that a creature from another universe must also equally be magically active, and could therefore be used in rift manipulation." Lucius sat back, very satisfied with finally elucidating his pet hypothesis, smiling smugly.

"And?" prompted Harry after a suitable time for it to sink into his addled head.

"And a dragon is a very large and very magical creature, and I thought they would be a much better candidate creature to power the next rift renewal than any other human I can think of right now. You included."

Harry began to understand. "So if we can find a better magic aware or magic using creature than purebloods, then they get killed instead, and the Riftomancer Council List is not required. And then Draco and me are off the hook permanently."

"Precisely!"

"Then why are we on a boat to Azkaban rather than a plane to Romania?" Harry asked, wide eyed and now standing up. "And why is this boat trip so smooth?"

"That's two questions, but they are related," Lucius quipped back. "The travel is so smooth because of," and he rolled his eyes at this point, "magic. And why is this magic boat working when some other forms of travel aren't? Because Azkaban is a highly magical place, in fact at a junction of two rifts formed in the last renewal, and magic is working very strongly there."

"So why aren't we just apparating there?" Harry asked.

"Because it's a prison, Harry, and they have certain charms and protection spells to stop that sort of thing. Can't have magic using prisoners just apparating away whenever they want to, now can they? And it works both ways of course, thus if they cannot get out then we cannot get in using that style of magic travel. This ferry is charmed for smooth travel, as I'm sure you are aware the North Sea can be a very rough place. It is similar to a flying car for example, which I know you are familiar with, but not quite as ostentatious."

"That only really answers the second question, doesn't it. Why are we going there at all? I can't remember any mention of dragons being kept prisoner in Azkaban," Harry said.

"That is the right question. It's because they have dementors," Lucius answered triumphantly. "My reasoning is that dementors are a less material version of creatures from the rift, the energy signature left-overs that I hypothesise will be an excellent rift maintenance candidate. It all makes sense with the overlap between Riftomancy and Dark Arts, and the common Patronus series of spells."

"Oh well that makes it all better then. Let's not capture a perfectly deadly dragon but sail straight into the biggest den of dementors, knock on the door of the scariest magical prison there is, and ask if we can borrow a spare dementor!" Harry moaned in exasperation.

Lucius wobbled his head slightly side to side, hummed a little, and said "More or less, yes."

"Well I vote for a quick trip to Romania because right now staring down a dragon seems a lot simpler."

"I plan to renew the rifts while on Azkaban, Harry. The magic is good there, and we will then not need to remove a dementor but simply use one there. And it is considerably closer to us in dear old England than Romania. Time pressure and all that."

"So we are going to Azkaban Prison, dementor central, and you're going to open up a rift to a another universe and stuff a dementor in the hole to keep it open?" Harry asked.

"Well I am going to open that pin-prick conduit, yes, and you are going to bind a dementor to it using the patronus curse," Lucius explained.

Harry began grumbling under his breath about the craziness of this plan, again, while Lucius continued to ignore his protestations and try to focus on the task ahead.

"Oh cripes, not now," Harry groaned as he started getting the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and the aching in his head. "We must be getting closer to dementors," Harry said as he collapsed onto a bench. "I will never get used to this feeling, and I don't want it anymore." Harry was rubbing his temples and blinking back the pain and discomfort.

Lucius tried to use a consoling tone but was failing. "Could be the dementors, or the equally effecting influence of the rift junction. I'm not sure how bad it will be on the island, but I need you to be functioning and able to perform your part or this is going to fail. The planned ritual will fail, and then Council members will be making their moves on some other pureblood and trying not to mess things up. And if that all goes belly up then we might as well be dead because our lifestyle will then be defunct. I have no idea what will happen to the muggle world when the magical charms and defences fail on the creatures we hide, but I know that we will have no way of stopping the mayhem and destruction that follows. So please, please, gather whatever mental and physical resources you possess and help me get this job done!"

There was a bump, the boat stopped moving, and a gravelly voice yelled from on deck "All ashore what's goin' ashore!"

 _Twenty Four._

Lucius pursed his lips, stood up fully and retrieved a small leather bag from the large paper bag containing the research results. "Half a league onward, all in the valley of death …" Lucius whispered.

Harry rose off the bench, doubled over, feeling like he had been punched hard in the stomach and twice as hard in the head. With feelings of being seasick and suffering tinnitus, his ears ringing loudly in his head, he limped to the short step ladder up to the deck. He was shocked by the cold spray of sea water and the slap of the wind as he emerged from the cabin, which only made him blink his eyes in the dying sunlight. He felt like he was breathing heavily and moving was a great effort, yet he and Lucius moved as quickly as possible down the short dock and onto the rocky edge of Azkaban Island.

"We have little time to waste Harry, as no boat is due at this time and the prison authorities will be alerted sooner rather than later. Much sooner if that idiot goblin runs amok," Lucius called above the sound of the wind. He took a small ball out of his leather bag and began looking intently at it. "I'm going to set up about a hundred yards to our left near that large rock. It should take a few minutes, but then we are going to need a dementor bound and ready to insert, or else."

"Or else what?" Harry managed to cough through gritted teeth.

"Or else I have an open pin-prick to another universe and nothing to support or manipulate it. If it collapses then I'm not sure what it will do to the existing rifts right below us."

"Yeah yeah, I know, nuclear bombs and all that," Harry spat. "I got it." With that, Lucius released his physical support of Harry and scuttled off to the place he would start the rift opening ritual.

Harry looked around himself and the prison appeared as a large dark shape with the light behind it. Harry couldn't make out any smaller shapes, or lights, within the prison façade and felt sick and useless. He slowly started moving in the direction Lucius had gone, clutching his stomach. After only 10 yards however, Harry fell to his knees and his hands went to his face. His head was spinning and he felt dizzy and light headed. Harry tried to ignore the sensations filling his body but could not. He was managing to keep the nausea mostly under control though it meant his head felt like it was being slowly crushed. He concentrated on breathing as regularly as possible and waited for some sort of sign or signal to start his part.

With his eyes closed Harry was listening as hard as he could with the wind making the job much harder. Harry did not know how long he listened to the distant chanting he assumed was coming from Lucius nearly 100 yards away, but he soon felt the wind around him drop. He raised himself to one knee and squinted off toward Lucius' direction. He saw nothing.

"I'll be havin' me wand back laddy," a rasping voice said from Harry's right-hand side. Harry whipped around and he saw Captain Ironleg standing a step away with a bowling-ball-sized rock held above his head. Harry rolled inelegantly onto his left shoulder as Captain Ironleg smashed the rock down, barely missing him. Harry reached his right hand around and into his jacket and found the goblin's wand. Captain Ironleg roared in anger and raised his hands to strike down at Harry. He threw his arm toward the goblin and screamed "Crucio!" as Ironleg thrust at him.

The flash was intense at point blank range and the goblin was thrown onto his back. Ironleg wailed a single keening scream for maybe two seconds then fell into a fitting state and rolled over. After another few seconds the goblin was still and silent. Harry was breathing hard again and still holding his right arm out when his eyes slowly refocussed on the goblin; it looked pretty dead. Harry looked at the wand which he now saw was broken off in his hand. He crawled over to where the goblin lay and saw the other half of the wand sticking out of its ribs.

"And now I've even lost the wand," Harry wailed to the wind, slumping to the ground.


	9. Time to Renew IX

**A Time to Renew IX**

Disclaimer: This story takes place in the Harry Potter universe, with characters from that universe. All rights over the universe and the characters therein are owned by J. . This work is an otherwise original piece of fiction, with no claim or expectation of gaining advantage, financial or any other, from the use of the copyrighted material.

 _Twenty Five._

Harry sat and felt sorry for himself. What could he do now? He needed a wand to do any magic, Lucius Malfoy was using his and there were no more available, and more importantly, Harry needed to bind a dementor when the rift was opened.

"This could not get any worse," Harry thought, "nuclear bombs and all that."

A blast of magic about 20 feet away snapped Harry back to the present. He looked up at the imposing shape of Azkaban Prison, and saw dots of light near the top. From those dots of light, more blasts of magic erupted and very soon there were small explosions all about him. Harry was still feeling like he had been awake for two days and beaten up thoroughly, yet he forced himself to start moving. He crouched down and shambled past the still figure of Captain Ironleg, moving back toward the ferry and away from Lucius Malfoy and the rift ritual in progress.

"If I can't help Mr. Malfoy, then at least I can keep them off him for a while," Harry reasoned, still too addled to understand his part in the rift opening, or where he really needed to be. His random movements and changes of direction as he ran were not the result of any predetermined strategy but more due to the rough terrain and Harry's lack of coordination in his current state. However it served to keep him relatively unhurt from the incoming attacks.

As quickly as it had started, the bombardment ended, and Harry found himself puffing very hard and leaning on a rocky outcrop. As the noise of the attacks receded it was replaced by the ringing in his ears brought on by rift energy. Harry took mental stock of his situation.

"OK Harry, you are stranded on a prison island, it's getting dark, it's cold and windy, you have no idea what you're supposed to be doing, and you don't even have a wand." He stuffed the broken wand back into his coat, then blew into his hands and rubbed them together, trying to keep his fingers warm. Harry looked out in as many directions as he dared, looking for anything that might be a danger, or for anything that might be useful to him. Harry did not hold out any hope that there would be anything useful just lying around on the shores of Azkaban – and in that he was unfortunately correct.

Harry decided that with the lull in the attacks from the prison, he should make his way back to Lucius Malfoy and the ritual site. After a suitable time waiting, just making sure that nothing more was coming at him, Harry moved from his cover and stumbled over the broken ground back the way he had come. It was eerie moving back for Harry, only the wind and the ringing in his ears to keep him company. Harry didn't have a plan, he didn't know what he was going to do when he found Lucius Malfoy, and he didn't have a wand for the spell he needed to cast. As he neared the dock where the ferry sat solidly, oblivious to the wind and waves around it, Harry was hit with a sudden wave of nausea and choked back bile in his throat. He fell to the ground and rolled on his back, still coughing. Above himself Harry could see shadowy things streaming out of a tower atop Azkaban Prison; the dementors were out.

 _Twenty Six._

"No! Not now! Why now? Oh help me!" Harry wailed. He moved onto his side, coughing, and spat out the contents of his mouth. He made it onto all fours and tried to steady his breathing. Harry took large gulping breaths and panted; he felt so hot and yet the wind was so cold. He stayed down for a little longer before rising to his knees and screaming at the sky. With that out of his system, Harry climbed to his feet, put his head down, said "Ah to hell with this!" and ran toward where he hoped Lucius Malfoy would be waiting.

Harry ran poorly in the wind, low light and rough terrain, and this just made him slower. The first pair of dementors swooped down at Harry, causing him to stumble, fall, and land heavily on his left shoulder. The shooting pain was a welcome relief from the headache for Harry, and it spurred him to get back up and keep running. Other dementors swooped at Harry but did not stop to attack him, but appeared to be trying to direct him back toward the shore.

"They're just going to wear me down, then I'll get captured and they will put me away in this prison," Harry thought. "I can't let that happen. Got to keep moving. Got to get back to Mr. Malfoy." But Harry was losing energy quickly. The cold air sapped him of heat and strength, the effort of running while feeling drunk and beaten meant he was crawling more than running now. More dementors swooped him. Harry fell again and lay on the hard, rocky ground, his chest heaving. He was bruised, and bleeding from many places where the sharp rocks had cut him, and Harry felt tired, so tired. He tried to rise one more time but failed, slumping to the ground.

"I'm sorry. I can't do any more. It's too much for me," Harry was moaning. The dementors started circling widely around where he lay, almost mocking him. Harry watched the horrors drifting effortlessly 30 or 40 feet above him, and he found himself smiling.

"Come at me, you filthy bloody things," he dared the dementors, "You keep your distance yeah, 'cause if I had a wand you would be in so much trouble." Harry lifted himself on one elbow and kept yelling upwards. "I'll do you! Come on. What are you waiting for?" Harry's anger gave him a second wind and he continued hurling insults and threats at the pack of dementors as he slowly levered himself up and regained his feet.

A new spot of light appeared in the walls of Azkaban Prison and a blast of magic was cast at Harry. He saw it and froze; he could not move his legs, but started lifting his arms reflexively. A dementor cruised down in front of Harry and stopped. Harry looked into the empty hooded cowl of the dementor. Time stood still for Harry as he stared at the breakaway dementor that simply floated before him. Harry saw a flash of green eyes. He blinked. The magic blast struck the dementor and it flew rapidly away; Harry ran as fast as he could toward a growing faint blue glow that he knew would be the site of the rift ritual.

Harry arrived at where Lucius was performing the ritual a little later, puffing hard and he leaned against a rock.

"Excellent dear boy," Lucius cried, "it is nearly time for your part of the procedure."

"But I can't do it," Harry managed between breaths.

"Oh of course you can," Lucius shot back. "And here was me worried that the dementors would not be about and we would need to provoke them, but you have done a splendid job attracting them."

"No, Mr. Malfoy, you don't understand," Harry yelled, "I just don't have a wand to cast any spell with."

"Just use the goblin wand. It will do fine with the strength of magic here."

The dementors now stopped simply circling high above Harry, and restarted the swooping. Now they were threatening both Harry and Lucius Malfoy, who was at a critical point in the rift ritual.

"Keep them off me Harry," Lucius called, "I cannot be interrupted now, as the hole will be opened presently."

Harry turned and looked hopelessly up to the sky. A pack of six or seven were swarming together to launch an attack on their position. Harry sighed heavily, out of ideas and out of time. What could he do now? The light blue glow that surrounded Lucius turned a light red colour and became suddenly intense, yet did not produce glare. The noise in Harry's head quieted instantly and his body felt relaxed and completely well. He looked calmly at the dementors moving toward him and he could see outlines of them and coloured patterns across each of the forms – they seemed much less dangerous now. Harry saw lines and patterns and blobs of colour across the façade of Azkaban Prison. Harry carefully dug his right hand inside his robes, searching for the broken goblin wand, pulled out his hand and yelled " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

 _Twenty Seven._

A blinding beam of white light shot upward in a narrow cone, engulfing the swooping dementors. Harry watched as each was quickly dissolved in the beam and seeped instantly into the ground. The other dementors circling above scattered, many returning to the keep of Azkaban Prison.

Lucius started calling out "It's open, I've done it, the rift is …" before the _patronus_ charm was cast. Lucius looked up in wonder at the effect it produced and felt the power washing back over him. "The Dark Lord cannot beat this one," he muttered to himself, "and the House of Malfoy will not be allied with him at the end." Lucius then looked at Harry and saw that he was wielding the Sword of Gryffindor and not a wand in his right hand. "This is an unexpected bonus!"

"Harry!" Lucius yelled, "the portal is opened and we need to insert a dementor now!"

Harry let the charm lapse and kept watching the outlines and shapes that danced in the half light. He glanced to the ground where the dementors had fell and saw wide cracks in the ground, two of which crossed near the base of the prison. "These are the rift lines," Harry knew intuitively, "and I am seeing them due to the new rift opening. They are lines of energy and not any physical crack in the surface of the island, and once the power was removed from the dementors, as shadows of creatures from rifts they were returned to the old rift lines."

Harry looked slowly around. He knew what Lucius was doing and what he wanted without hearing a word he had said, and was scanning the sky for a dementor to bind. Harry glimpsed an energy outline and lazily began the sideways figure 8 movement of the _patronus_ curse. As he pulled his arm up to point at his target, Harry whispered " _Bindan Patronum_ " and loosed the curse. A red laser line connected to the targeted dementor, and engulfed it in a tight globe. The globe shrank to the size of a marble but was too bright to look directly at. Harry turned his head to where Lucius had opened the rift and effortlessly swung his arm to point at the opening.

Everything became dark again, Harry's body felt very heavy, suddenly weak, and he passed out.

 _Epilogue._

Harry woke up in a comfortable bed. It was a very comfortable bed. It was also moving a little and clicking and clacking. Harry was on a train. It looked like a very nice first-class cabin, much like he had travelled up to Hogwarts in with Lucius a couple of days ago. Harry decided to ask less questions and just snuggle down under the covers for a bit, no need to get up yet.

After a time dozing, there was a sharp knock at the cabin door. Harry made a muffled mumbling noise, and a steward entered with a trolley containing several covered plates. The steward nodded politely and left the cabin, closing the door behind himself. The smell of breakfast drew Harry out of the sheets, but he simply sat on the side of the bed and pulled the trolley to him. He looked under the plate covers to find several tasty looking dishes, but settled on slowly eating some perfect toast with a variety of jams and compotes, while sipping a glass of apple juice.

Harry also saw a large manila envelope at one end of the trolley, under some neatly folded napkins. He kept chewing the toast in his mouth but could not look away from the envelope. It looked too large to contain the bill. Maybe it was a fancy dinner invitation? A customer feedback form? The free wifi password? Harry swallowed then reached over and picked up the envelope. His name was on the front, hand written, in very neat script. Harry turned up the flap which was not glued down and found a letter inside.

" _Dear Harry,_

 _First let me thank you for your excellent work over the past few days, and our successful renewal of the rifts. No nuclear bombs or anything! It will be critical for the Council to monitor the strength and flow of energy over the next 12 to 18 months so we can calibrate our records and determine the usefulness of bound dementors in the rifts._

 _I assume you don't mind me returning the Sword of Gryffindor to Hogwarts, and I have arranged it as such. Your use of it as a wand was remarkable, although not entirely surprising, and the_ patronus _spells you cast with it were the most powerful I have ever encountered. The binding of the dementor went perfectly and the rift was instantly stable. None of the guardians of Azkaban ventured out for some time, which allowed our safe escape from the island._

 _Our Houses are joined by our practice of riftomancy and our role as maintainers of this secret. My dear Draco does not possess this particular gift, and he will not be told of it. Our families cannot be friends openly, as Salazar and Godric could not be, and as our Hogwarts factions cannot be. But make no mistake, our paths must cross and yourself and Draco must each be strong in your own ways, particularly at the end._

 _Riftomancy runs in your family. Your father was always an arrogant and head strong wizard, and although not an official riftomancer, he understood something of it and dabbled in certain magics that were too dangerous for him. This was part of his personal plan to combat The Dark Lord, the dark arts, and the horror of dementors. It is likely that your twin brother was lost in a rift at birth, as they are two-way passages after all._

 _Lucius Malfoy"_

Harry sat, stunned by what he had just read, letting the paper fall to the ground. He did not remember the Sword of Gryffindor, just his clarity in knowing what to do and how to do it. But a twin brother? Was that just some kind of sick joke? Why would Lucius Malfoy write anything like that? It made no sense, just like a green eyed dementor also made no sense.

On the floor of the cabin, both the envelope and the letter it contained dissolved into dust. Harry rubbed his left shoulder, which was sore, and now bore a scar in the shape of a figure 8 with a stroke through it.


End file.
